SARH employees take time to raise awareness of mental health

Employees at Stafford’s leading provider of affordable homes have been given the chance to take a few minutes break from helping others to think about their own health and wellbeing.

To mark World Mental Health Day, Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH) invited staff to try a range of activities designed to reduce stress and anxiety.

Embracing traditional techniques such as yoga and craft activities, the event also introduced them to a range of high-tech options such as mindfulness apps.

Jo Hough, Assistant Director of Organisational Development at SARH, explained: “We know that ensuring the wellbeing of our employees is vital to delivering the best possible service to customers and events such as this underline our commitment to helping them to be ‘the best they can be’.

“Throughout the day, employees from across the organisation were welcome to drop in and try a range of activities that have the potential to improve their mental and physical health.

“Putting health and wellbeing front and centre of our commitment to employees has contributed to SARH being named as the top housing association, and second overall, in the Sunday Times 100 Best Not-for-Profit Companies to Work For list.”

The Feeling Well event at the SARH offices in Parker Court, Stafford, aimed to reflect the NHS Five Ways to Wellbeing approach to mental health. It also fitted in with the housing association’s core values: Communication, Approachable, Respectful, Empowering, and Supportive (CARES) and Jo believes that it’s an approach other businesses and organisations can learn from.

“Everyone at SARH buys into our values and, as well as helping us to deliver an even better service for customers, we’ve seen a significant reduction in absence due to illness and high staff retention,” she added.